FARMINGTON — A Franklin County grand jury Friday indicted a Wilton man who is accused of bludgeoning his grandmother, Joanne Goodreau, 67, to death with a hammer Dec. 20 at their home in Wilton.
Dana Craney, 22, was indicted on a charge of murder. A conviction on the charge carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Craney is being held in jail awaiting a bail hearing at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, at Franklin County Superior Court in Farmington.
Craney told Maine State Police during an interview that he struck his grandmother in the head with a hammer six or seven times in her bedroom while she slept, according to a police affidavit filed with the court.
He said he dragged her body into the backyard behind the trailer they shared at 1130 Weld Road, hid the body in a depression in the ground and placed plywood and bags of trash on top of it, police said.
The state medical examiner concluded that Goudreau’s death was caused by skull fractures and lacerations of the brain from blunt force trauma to the head, according to the affidavit.
Craney told police he had a verbal argument with his grandmother over a pot left on a stove and she struck him with her hand. He said Goudreau fled the home in an unknown direction after the fight, the affidavit states.
Craney, who initially denied killing his grandmother, eventually told police he bludgeoned his grandmother in the head. He said she physically and sexually assaulted him his entire life, the affidavit states.
Craney told police he had enough of the abuse “and needed to end it,” police said.
Wilton police initially responded to a missing person report.
Franklin County sheriff’s Lt. David Rackliffe and his police dog, Justice, located a set of tracks in the snow leading away from the trailer along the southern side of the property. He followed the tracks to a depression that was covered with a piece of plywood and a couple of bags of trash, according to state police Detective Randall Keaten’s affidavit.
When Rackliffe looked closely at the plywood, he saw a human ear partially obscured by a blood-soaked mane of hair. He could not see any signs of breathing from the human figure and left the body in place, the affidavit states.
Wilton Sgt. Chad Abbott took Craney into custody and drove him to the Farmington Police Station to meet with state police. He was subsequently arrested on the murder charge.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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